Destiny Decided
by ladedapastaprincess
Summary: The end of Harry's sixth year has ended. Nothing is quite right, it seems, as he still pines for Ginny, dealing with the weight of the prophecy, and everything else that depends on him.New chapters are up NOW!Please read and review...thanks!
1. chapter 1

There once was a quaint little grocery shop near London. It was like many other nice stores, with it's shelves all neatly placed and stacked with foods, household cleaners, paper towels and such.

But despite the normal atmosphere, there was a certain someone there, that if her secret was known to others, the environment would become hectic.

A sixteen year-old girl leaned against the counter next to the cash register.

She had vivid, long red hair and a freckled complexion. Her soft brown eyes surveyed each passerby as a dreg of coffee sat abandoned next to her elbow. This girl was wearing the proper attire for an employee at a store: A white shirt, black pants, red apron, an a little nametag on it reading, "Ginny".

This was how it had been for Ginny Weasley since two months ago. Ginny was not the average teenage girl; quite frankly, there was nothing average about her.

We all know the story about witches, wizards, You-Know-Who, Hogwarts, Harry Potter, and all that. Though all the deaths had occurred, Ginny had been the one heartbroken, but she didn't know if Harry felt the same way….

"Erm…excuse me ma'am, but…erm, I'm ready to pay for my things…."

Ginny gave a start. She had not noticed the man in front of her, who had been standing right behind the register for a few minutes. She had been so deeply immersed in her thoughts that she had forgotten she was a cashier.

Oh, what her annoying supervisor would say….

"Oh, yes,"

Ginny said hastily, removing the man's items from the strip of rubber that moved the groceries to the register, and quickly scanned them.

"Sorry."

After all the groceries were scanned, Ginny told the man his total, he paid for the groceries, and left.

Ginny almost placed her elbow back on the counter when a irritated cough came from behind her.

"Miss Weasley,"

the voice belonging to the cough said, moving over to her to reveal a man with straw-colored hair, bulky black glasses, and a lofty expression.

"This store is not home to all of your conveniences. I, as your employee supervisor have the right to report you _sleeping on the job._"

How Ginny despised Garrett Urell.

"I wasn't sleeping!"

Ginny snapped, but her supervisor took no notice to her response.

"I don't care how _abnormally_ you've been moved up from a bagging person to a cashier so quickly," Garrett continued, "but the fact still does not give you permission to act in such a manner."

Ginny scowled. She knew exactly how much Garrett loathed being outshined when she succeeded in her job. He had not been promoted so quickly, so Ginny figured that he despised anyone who was better than him on principles.

How she had been promoted so fast bewildered him, and unbeknownst to anyone, Ginny had secretly got her all her work done by automatic magic; without spells, though.

Garrett gave her one last look of obnoxious haughtiness, and strode away. Now that Ginny thought about it, Garrett reminded her a lot of _Percy_.

Ginny gave herself a look a vague disgust.

_As if the world needed another Percy. _she thought scathingly as she picked up the cup of coffee and poured it into the garbage can next to her.

One of the main questions Ginny had been receiving from her magical friends is why she was working at a _Muggle_ store. They didn't pay her in Galleons, Knuts, or Sickles, so what was the point?

Luckily enough, at this time, Ginny's shift was over. She glanced at the clock one last time, making sure it was four o'clock, the end of her shift.

Ginny tossed her red apron into her blue messenger bag by her feet. She picked it up, then sprinted out of the grocery store.

Just around the corner of the shop lived a Squib named Al Jenson. Why Ginny would bother going there was that Al traded Muggle money for Wizard money.

Ginny knocked on the door to a old house, with rusted shingles and weeds growing around the sides of the house. Since Al was getting older, he didn't have much effort to cleaning.

As the brass knocked rapped on the door one last time, Al opened the door. He was a man with light brown hair with some grayish tinge. He had small dark eyes and a pair of small spectacles on, which gave him the look of an aging owl.

"Jenny, come in, come in…." he said, after squinting at Ginny for a few seconds.

Ginny saved herself the effort of correcting him by saying,

"I've got the money, d'ya want to trade now?"

"Oh," Al said; surprised. "I didn't expect it so soon. Why, it was two weeks until payday for you, wasn't it? Ah well, I lose track of time."

Ginny had just stood in the doorway the entire time it took Al to get his Wizard money. When he returned, Ginny held out her money she had just received that very morning. They traded, and Al said,

"Nice to know the Weasley family, eh? Yes, your father is very hard working at the Ministry. I've dropped by a few times just to say hello. My wife works there, you see, so I pop in occasionally….But Gwen won't be back for about an hour…."

And Al trailed off as he swung the door shut.

Ginny stuffed the money into her messenger bag and followed the path down through London. She was headed for Diagon Alley, where Tom, the landlord of the Leaky Caldron usually had some extra Floo Powder. That was the way she traveled these days, since she could not Apparate.

Ginny stared out into the sky as she walked, her thoughts completely absorbed by Harry, just as they had been as when she had first heard about Harry.

Harry Potter was fast asleep in number four, Privet Drive. Though it was only four in the evening, he had just relieved himself from some letters from the Ministry of Magic, still asking for him to be, as Harry considered, their "mascot". After scribbling "No." on each one of them, he sent his snowy owl Hedwig to deliver them all.

The only mail Harry had been happy to see was the mail from the Weasley's or Hermione Granger. His most recent letter lay on the floor accidentally when he had moved his glasses onto the bedside table, knocking the letter off. The abandoned letter on the floor read,

Harry,

We would be delighted for you to come and stay with us after you leave your aunt and uncles home. Though you wish on going to Godric's Hollow, it would be more fun (and possibly more safe), if you were to stay with us for Bill and Fleur's _Phlegm's _(the letter had obliviously been tampered by Ginny) wedding. Though, if you insist on going to Godric's Hollow, please let us know.

From,

Mrs. Weasley

The letter had earned a laugh from Harry, preferably because of what Ginny had done. But directly after that laugh, all words seemed to have left him. He had hoped that the thought of Ginny would not bother him as much as it did, but to his dismay, he missed her very much.

Harry had thought going to the Weasley's first would be a good idea, so he also sent a letter back with Hedwig saying yes.

But that was yesterday. Harry was still asleep, rolling around in the bed. His jet black hair had become highly messy as usual.

He did not awaken to the sound of his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, or his cousin Dudley downstairs, all unusually happy and talking in delighted high voices downstairs. Of course, their nephew was going to leave sometime this year!

But another sound he did not awaken to was the sound of Hedwig, tapping against the glass of his bedroom window.

Hedwig, obliviously annoyed that Harry had not left the window open for her, screeched loudly; the note in her beak almost slipping out.

Harry grumbled indistinctively into his pillow. When Hedwig screeched again, more loudly than the last, Harry finally got up.

He opened his emerald-green eyes slowly and gradually got up and opened the window.

Hedwig stuck out her beak and Harry relieved her of the letter. As he unfolded it, he recognized the writing at once. The Weasleys! They were quick writers, no doubt about that.

Harry,

Alright then! We'll pick you up around July 6th, will that work out? No, there will not be no flying car. Arthur will pick you up by Floo Powder. (Please let your aunt and uncle un-board the fireplace if it is boarded up.) This time, I'm positive we won't have Fred and George to give your cousin Ton-Tongue Toffees.

Don't forget to warn the Muggles!

Mrs. Weasley

Harry just remembered something: Today was July fifth, so Mr. Weasley would come tomorrow!

Finally, he wouldn't have to put up with the Dursey's anymore! Now that he was seventeen…and he could use magic outside of school….

So now, what was Harry planning to do? After Bill and Fleur's wedding, he was planning to do some research (how much that sounded like it came from Hermione!) on where the remaining Horcruxes were.

And he didn't plan on going back to Hogwarts either. Like he had told Ron and Hermione last year, he didn't want to come back even if Hogwarts re-opened.

Harry folded up the letter and replaced the letter for his glasses as he sat back down on his bed.

Hedwig flew over to join him as she perched herself on his bed stand.

Harry gave her a scratch around her wings as a sign of thanks and she retreated to her cage, which lay by his dresser.

_I guess it'd do me some good if I were to warn the Dursleys,_ Harry thought as he got up and ran a hand through his already untidy hair.

So then Harry proceeded to the neat kitchen where his Aunt Petunia was busy making dinner and humming happily, which was very rare of her. Dudley was sitting on a one of the chairs, and Uncle Vernon was busy scanning the newspaper for the umpteenth time.

Aunt Petunia was a tall, bony woman with blonde hair who specialized in gossip. Uncle Vernon, who appeared the complete opposite of his wife, was very beefy and large, with a bushy mustache and a reputation of a very loud, booming voice.

Harry's cousin Dudley looked most like his father without the mustache: He was very large and pink, with a tuft of blonde hair upon his round head. He much resembled a pig to Harry, and was as spoiled as anyone could get.

Harry made a small cough to announce his arrival.

The Dursely's looked at him at once. Aunt Petunia had stopped her humming abruptly, Dudley had shifted around in his chair to look at him, (his hands somewhat swaying around his buttocks nervously,) and Uncle Vernon restrained his eyes from an article in the newspaper and peered at him from over his newspaper.

"What is it?" Uncle Vernon snarled.

"Erm…well, I wanted to let you know that I'm not going to be with you guys any longer." Harry said, glancing at each one of them in turn.

"My friend's dad  Mr. Weasley  is going to pick me up tomorrow."

Uncle Vernon seemed lost for words. Either from happiness that his nephew was finally leaving, or that he would have to endure the same man again that had ruined their sitting room three years ago, Uncle Vernon wasn't speaking.

Aunt Petunia took this moment to speak.

"_That_ man?" she snapped, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"How is he getting here?"

"Floo Powder," Harry replied uncertainly.

"_What_?" Uncle Vernon growled, who had found his voice again. "They're going to _what_?"

"F-fly here?" Dudley said, his voice quavering a bit. "With powder?"

"Not _fly_ here," Harry corrected impatiently. "By fireplace. They use powder to get to Wizarding fireplaces, but they've connected this house on the Floo Network again to get me."

"Wait a minute," Uncle Vernon said darkly, his small eyes boring into Harry. "The same way he came four years ago? For that Quidinky Championship, or whatever?"

"Yeah," Harry said, now nervous to see his uncle's reaction.

Dudley whimpered. Apparently the thought of his tongue swelling up like long balloon still haunted him.

"I don't think so!" Uncle Vernon protested. "I haven't forgotten how he  he _defaced_ our property by wrecking our sitting room!"

Aunt Petunia shuddered. She mumbled something like, "Dirt…ground into the carpet…_everywhere_…."

"But Mrs. Weasley already sent me a letter to tell you that this is what they were going to do!" Harry said pleadingly.

"I can't do anything about it!"

"Well, then you'll just have to write back and tell them that I _forbid_ it!" Uncle Vernon roared, spit spluttering out of his mouth as he spoke. "I absolutely will _not_ have those insane people even put a _toe_ in our home again!"

Harry huffed angrily. "I told you: _I can't do anything about it!_ It's too late! Mr. Weasley will  "

"_No!_"

Harry scowled. He was just about to storm back up to his room when Dudley spoke:

"Bu-ut Dad, that means he'll have to s-stay with us longer!"

Uncle Vernon's face fell.

"He has a point, Vernon," Aunt Petunia conceded , looking thoroughly disappointed. "The boy has to go. The sooner he's gone, the better."

She gave an indignant sniff and returned to her cooking.

Uncle Vernon gave a resigned sign and said to Harry, "Fine. Only this time though, boy. We will not have anymore M-Magic" (he trembled slightly at the word) "blokes come near our house again after this. Understand?" he added fiercely.

"Yes," said Harry, keeping his voice as steady and his expression as neutral as possible.

The Dursley's looked at Harry curiously. Dudley almost looked a bit _annoyed_ at the fact that his cousin was leaving. (Even though he had protested that Harry should not stay at his house any longer, it still left Harry very confused.)

Even Aunt Petunia was looking at him with a vague surprise, even though she was the one who concluded the matter that he leave tomorrow. Uncle Vernon only seemed slightly lost in thought.

That night, Harry fell asleep late, thinking about how he was finally leaving his "home".

The next day, every Weasley family member in the Burrow had something to do.

Mr. Weasley, for example had to pick up Harry at thirty minutes to three. Mrs. Weasley was busy organizing all the wedding preparations before setting everything up, Fleur Delacour was still deciding which colors to Charm her carnation flowers for the wedding, Ginny was doing something (that she had not shared with the family), and Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley were helping a frantic Mrs. Weasley.

"Ron, can you just finish helping me with that flower vase?" Mrs. Weasley asked Ron as he reentered the kitchen. He had previously left the room to move the garden pots.

"Sure…." Ron said uncertainly, running a hand wearily through his red hair. (Which had become extremely lank from helping his mother with tedious chores.) He looked at her with his blue eyes and asked,  
"D'ya need me to polish it?"

"No, just go bring it to Fleur and ask her if she finished deciding what color her flowers will be."

Ron departed from the kitchen with the flower vase to find Fleur just as Hermione entered.

Mrs. Weasley tossed some of her red hair behind her shoulders before turning to Hermione.

"Could you help me by catching some gnomes, dear?" she asked tiredly. "I'd ask Arthur, but you know how he feels about gnomes…."

"All right," Hermione responded, also shaking her bushy brown hair behind her shoulders. "I'll see if I can't find Ron on my way out."

Just had Ron had left and Hermione entered, Mr. Weasley walked in as Hermione left.

"Molly, I'm off to go get Harry," said the thin, red-haired Mr. Weasley as he spoke to his plump wife. "He can help you too, if you need anymore helpers."

"Oh, I don't want to put too much pressure on him," said Mrs. Weasley quickly. "The poor boy has already got enough on his shoulders."

Mr. Weasley shrugged, gave his wife a light kiss on the cheek and proceeded to the fireplace in the sitting room.

Mr. Weasley took a pinch of Floo Powder sitting on the small table next to the fireplace. Throwing only some powder into the fire (saving some for the trip back), he said loudly and clearly, "Number Four, Privet Drive!" before stepping inside.

The familiar yet uncomfortable feeling of spinning of the walls spinning around Mr. Weasley made feel slightly sick. But it was not long after that Mr. Weasley appeared in the Dursley's sitting room.

Harry had been sitting in the lounge for about a half-hour until Mr. Weasley arrived. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were the only other people sitting there with him. (Dudley had stated that he wouldn't go near Mr. Weasley.)

Aunt Petunia gave a small shriek and jumped in her seat. Mr. Weasley's arrival seemed to have caught her off guard. Uncle Vernon immediately glared at him, as though hoping if he stared at him long enough he would take Harry and leave in two seconds.

"Ah, good evening," Mr. Weasley greeted, brushing some dust off his left arm and stepping out of the fireplace. "Arthur Weasley. I daresay you remember me from the last time we met."

"'_I daresay you remember me from the last time we met._'," Uncle Vernon mocked under his breath. Aunt Petunia glanced miserably at her was-clean carpet.

"Well, I'll just take Harry, then," Mr. Weasley said, gesturing for Harry to pick up his bags.

"Wouldn't you like to say good-bye? This time, you may never see him again."

The Dursley's hesitated, but finally, after a minute, Aunt Petunia said, "Good-bye, Harry."

Harry looked at her in surprise. He hadn't ever remembered her call him Harry at all. But immediately after she said that, Aunt Petunia looked as though she swallowed something disgusting.

"Same here," Uncle Vernon said gruffly.

"G'bye," Harry said as he and Mr. Weasley went into the fireplace.

Mr. Weasley tossed the remains of Floo Powder in his hand and stated, "The Burrow!"

Harry glanced back at the Dursley's a split second before the flames engulfed him and saw the Dursley's for (possibly) the last time.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Please Read it and REVIEW. I could really use some tips, or just what you think!

Thanks!

"So, what did she say, Ron?" Mrs. Weasley asked her tall son.

Ron looked miserably at his mother and said, "Well, Fleur was all frustrated, and I just asked her if she'd decided, then she starts this monologue on her favorite colors, and the next thing I know, I pulled out my wand and offered to help. I reckon she didn't hear me, because she was talking about indigo, so I just did a spell and  "

Harry and Mr. Weasley had just arrived in the kitchen before Ron could finish. Ron, completely forgetting about what he was talking about, looked happy and strode over to Harry instead of finishing.

"Hey mate!" Ron said enthusiastically. "Y'all right?"

"Yeah," Harry replied, grinning. Ron seemed exceptionally happy. Must have been that he was glad to have a distraction from his chores and speech.

"Hello, Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley greeted warmly. "Did everything go alright, Arthur?" she asked, turning to her husband.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, it did," Mr. Weasley said proudly.

"Good, good," Mrs. Weasley said, then turning to Ron, she asked: "Now, Ron, what happened next?"

Ron suddenly remembered what he had been doing before. His face fell and continued:

"I think I did the spell wrong in my head," His ears turned a bit red. "Because I pointed my wand at the plain white carnations Fleur was planning to Charm, and I accidentally turned them into rubber ducks. That obliviously set her off, because she started crying and saying stuff in French while glaring at me. Then, I ran back here."

Harry couldn't help but give a small laugh. Ron grinned sheepishly. "It _was _kinda funny, now that I think about it." he said.

"I'll go talk to her," Mrs. Weasley sighed. She departed gloomily through the kitchen door.

"Did you boys remember your Apparition tests?" Mr. Weasley asked. "They're holding the sessions in Diagon Alley sometime after the wedding."

"Blimey, I forgot about that!" Ron said, almost laughing.

"Me too," Harry admitted.

At that moment, Hermione appeared through the door, looking a bit grubby. She made a beeline straight for Ron, without noticing Harry. Mr. Weasley left when Hermione entered.

"_There_ you are Ron!" she said, sounding thoroughly exasperated. "I was going to ask you if you could help me with the gnomes. There's only a few left, but it's difficult just doing them all myself. As my  "

But she stopped abruptly when she noticed Harry, a pink color rising in her cheeks.

"Oh, hi Harry!" she said, her voice a little shaky. "H-how are you?"

"Fine," Harry replied, looking at her strangely. "What were you saying to Ron? '_As my_' slave?"

"Eh…no," Hermione said, still blushing, but then she regained her firm manner. "Why don't you help Ron and I? I've been weeding out the gnomes."

"Sure…." Harry said, still a little questioning about what this was all about.

As the trio made their way to the Weasley's garden, Ginny had popped into Harry's mind. He almost asked about her, but didn't. It was best to ask about her at a different approach.

"So, what's everyone been doing?"

"Ron and I have been helping Mrs. Weasley, and now Mr. Weasley has to get back to work. Fleur's been a bit on edge all day."

Hermione had completely forgotten about Ginny, to Harry's disappointment. It seemed as though she wanted Harry to be a bit braver by asking himself.

"That's all?" Harry asked, trying to coax it out of them.

"Yeah," Ron said as he made his way over to a gnome peering it's head out of a bush. "Everyone's doing something, except Ginny."

Harry smiled out of spite.

Ron, though being his best-best friend, wasn't as clever as Hermione. Sure enough, before Hermione chucked the gnome nearest to her, she gave him a small look of pity.

"So, you don't know what she's doing?" Harry asked, scanning the ground for gnomes.

"Nope," Ron answered simply as he tossed a gnome across the yard.

"What d'ya reckon she might be - ?"

"Oh, Harry," Hermione cut in with an exasperated tone. "We _don' t know_. Why don't you just ask her for yourself?"

Harry didn't give her an answer until he had full grip on one of the gnomes he was chasing. "Well, er - I, uh - don't know where she is and - "

But, as if on cue, (to cut Harry off) Fleur came striding into the garden. Her silvery hair was clumsily placed behind her shoulders and her blue eyes were narrowed. Her beauty was somewhat ruined by the hysterical scowl on her face. Harry noticed she was dressed almost like a Muggle: Blue long-sleeved shirt and knee-skirt, but with fuzzy Eskimo boots when it was the middle of summer.

Fleur made a beeline for Ron, still looking kind of creepy.

"Zi will 'av zou know," Fleur said throatily, leering down at Ron. "Zat I 'av feexed ze cars-nations. Vut do not disturb ve again, Vonald. Zit 'as been a long day, and zi am a vit tired."

She was about to turn around, but added, looking prettier with an apologetic face now, "Oh, zes, I am zorry for yeeling at zou." gave him a swift kiss on the cheek and departed. Hermione glared hard after Fleur, but Ron looked as though he was holding back a grin as his mouth twisted around.

"Ha, that's new," Ron said, now letting his grin free. "She gets mad at me, she confronts me, but then she - "

He stopped suddenly at the look on Hermione's face.

"N-not that I - " Ron started to stutter.

"Harry, there's a gnome right next to you," Hermione pointed out, trying to sound casual, but looking still a bit furious.

Harry managed to catch the gnome that was trying to run away, but Harry was too quick for it. After Harry tossed it, Ron looked around.

"That looks like all of them," he said. "Well, Harry, you go put your bags up in Fred and George's room. Me and Hermione - "

" - Hermione and _I_," Hermione corrected.

" - will just do a double check,"

"Okay," Harry said, leaving Ron and Hermione to scout the area for more gnomes.

As Harry headed upstairs, his right arm carrying the weight of his bag, he came across Ginny's room. He had to go up one more landing to get to Fred and George's room, but maybe he could just stop in Ginny's room to say hi? That wouldn't hurt…would it?

So, he cracked her bedroom door open a bit, and looked inside. She wasn't there.

Out of curiosity, Harry went inside. He hadn't ever been in Ginny's room, so decided to look around.

Crammed into the room was a twin-sized bed, dresser, and a closet. There were posters of famous Quidditch teams on the wall (much like Ron's, but the teams weren't Chudley Cannons). One of the Seeker's on the team the Irish poster, who had swerved out of view, slowly floated back to get a better look at Harry. The Seeker waved, then shot off again, most likely to find the Golden Snitch.

Harry proceeded to the dresser, where Ginny had squeezed in a lot of pictures; some being overlapped by other photo's frames.

One of them included the picture of the Weasley's in Egypt. Ginny obliviously had cut the picture out of the _Daily Prophet _to get it. There she was, waving as exuberantly as Ron, who was right next to her. The picture-Ron grinned at Harry and the picture-Ginny winked.

There were many other pictures: Bill and Ginny out in the garden (who looked about six years old, but still looking at Bill as though he were her idol), Pigwideon zooming in and out of the frame, apparently tweeting happily, Luna Lovegood gazing around her surroundings, but taking in the views of Hogwarts vaguely.

But one of the far-back pictures was something Harry hadn't expected: Himself, with Gilderoy Lockhart tugging at Harry's arm, trying to get him in the picture when he was twelve years old, and a picture of when he and Ginny had been together, when he was sixteen and she was fifteen.

There they were, and Harry remembered immediately that this was one of the days he and Ginny had spent down by the Blake Lake. They were both grinning at each other broadly, but appeared to be talking merrily, too.

Harry also remembered that it was Romilda Vane who had taken this picture, (who was planning to cut Ginny out and replace her with herself) but she had apparently dropped the photo somewhere and Ginny found it, and showed it to Harry, while Romilda was teeming with anger at losing her precious photograph.

Harry tore his eyes away from the photos and scanned the floor, trying to restrain himself from thinking of those rare, happy times. He finally found something more interesting than a sock: a halfway-folded letter.

Also out of curiosity, Harry picked it up, and read:

**ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS**

**_Pass GradesFail Grades_**

****OUTSTANDING (O)POOR (P)

EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS (E)DREADFUL (D)

ACCEPTABLE (A)TROLL (T)

**_Ginevra Molly Weasley has achieved:_**

AstronomyA

Care of Magical Creatures E

CharmsE

Defense Against the Dark ArtsE

DivinationA

HerbologyA

History of MagicD

PotionsE

TransfigurationO

Harry looked at Ginny's grades again. She and him got mostly the same grades, (it seemed Ginny could not stand History of Magic either, but she did do better than him in Divination. But what was with an "O" in Transfiguration? How'd she manage that?) but some were different.

Just as Harry was about to set her O.W.L. grades back on the floor, he heard someone come inside the room. Harry held his breath for a second, hoping it was anyone other than….

Ginny looked at Harry with an incredulous expression. He could not exactly tell what was going on inside her head, because she didn't look exactly angry.

When she set down the armful of clean laundry on the edge of her bed, her expression did not change. They both stood there, without saying anything, until when Ginny scrutinized him suspiciously, Harry felt that was his cue to leave.


	3. Chapter 3

When Harry had returned outside, having put his luggage in Fred and George's room after his

encounter with Ginny, Harry found Ron and Hermione still in the yard.

"What took you so long?" Ron demanded as Harry reentered.

Harry hesitated before replying. Should he, or should he not tell them what happened?

"Erm…nothing," Harry lied. "J-Just thinking about the Horcruxes, y'know…."

Ron and Hermione's expressions turned anxious.

"Did you find out where one of them could be?" Hermione asked.

"Eh…no…." Harry replied, this time truthfully. He really didn't know where they could be.

"Well, Mum says we're going back to the Order soon," Ron said. "Y'know, after the wedding and Apparation. Maybe we'll find out stuff there."

At that moment, Mrs. Weasley stuck her head out of the kitchen window and said, "Come on, you three, it's time for dinner!"

As the trio sat down at the Weasley's shabby-looking table, they saw that they were the last ones to sit, except for Mrs. Weasley, who was putting a mountain of potatoes, rice, broccoli, and chicken onto everyone's plates.

Harry avoided looking at Ginny, who was sitting across from him. Immediately after everyone was served, Fleur started a speech about how she was going to do her hair for the wedding:

" - zi was theenking zat a bun wiz curly 'air falling from ze bottom of eet vould look nice, along wiz ze crown zou offered, Molly. Zor I was theenking of just curly 'air tied vack into a small ponytail zat did not use all of vy 'air - "

As Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley were forced to listen to Fleur all through dinner, the trio ate in silence. Ginny was also forced to listen to Fleur when she said, "Oh, an' Ginny must do _something _wiz '_er _'air! Zy mean, eet is so long an' eet isn't wavy, curly, or even een a ponytail! Vy must certainly do something later on with eet to expeeriment - "

Harry ate in a painful silence. He was sure Ginny had been watching him (and not paying attention to Fleur's criticizing), but he couldn't understand why _he_ wasn't talking to her. Was it because of the break-up, or embarrassment?

When dinner finally ended, Fleur finally stopped her speech and went up to Bill's room, (where he was still supposed to rest a lot even though he had been discharged from Madam Pomfrey's care a couple months ago) and Harry, Ron, and Hermione went up to Ron's room.

As usual, Ron's room was covered with Canon's posters.

Hermione plopped herself down on the foot of Ron's bed. She opened her mouth to speak when they were interrupted by Mrs. Weasley once again.

"Harry, dear," she said. "I didn't mean to interrupt, but could you go help Ginny scrub the dishes? I have to go give Bill his medicine and Arthur just had an urgent call from the Ministry."

"Er…sure, Mrs. Weasley…." Harry answered, though nervously.

When Harry arrived in the kitchen, Ginny had already begun cleaning the dishes.

"Er…hi…." Harry said uncertainly.

Ginny did not look mad at all, or how she had looked earlier.

"Hey…" she distractedly, looking around at the pile of dirty dishes. "Here's another towel…."

She tossed him one. He was about to start cleaning when….

"I have a better idea," Harry said confidently. This would be _way_ too easy. Harry whipped his wand out of his pocket, pointed them at his pile of dishes, said, "_Scourgify_!" and the dishes were clean.

"Oi, you copied that from me in my fourth year!" Ginny said playfully.

"When did you copyright that spell?" Harry said jokingly. "I thought the Bat-Bogey hex was yours!"

"Both!"

"Fine, then the Patronus is mine…and Expelliarmus."

They both grinned at each other for a few moments until they realized what they were doing. Ginny twirled her wand, pointed it at her stack of dirty dishes, and muttered, "_Scourgify_!"

"You're not supposed to do magic outside of school," Harry said, though he honestly didn't care.

"Well, the Ministry won't catch me for two reasons," Ginny said merrily. "One: I'm in a Wizard house, and two, the Ministry is too busy with all the trouble going on to notice."

"Yeah," Harry conceded. "Though they still find the time to bombard me with mail."

"Really?" said Ginny curiously. "They didn't like you much last year, if I remember correctly. Well, obliviously I _do _remember because you yelled so loud that the whole conversation of how they 'slipped you in the _Prophet_' is still stuck in my head."

"Er…oh, right…."

"But don't worry about it," Ginny said briskly. "Being a hotheaded git is just a phase…."

But then she realized what she just said, and her whole face turned pink up to the roots of her red hair.

"I-I mean, that's j-just what you were _acting_ like!" she stuttered, close to slurring her words. "'Cause, you know I don't feel that way about you! I really - "

But, once again, she spoke to soon, and now her face seemed to resemble the color of a tomato with her freckles blending in with her complexion. (To Harry, she looked cute even when she was embarrassed.)

"I'm just gonna go upstairs now," she said softly.

And with that, she sprinted out of the kitchen and up the stairs without another word.

Harry had just successfully made Ginny almost say how she liked him, when only he had said, "Er…oh, right….".

He smiled at the thought, then went back upstairs to find Hermione and Ron playing Wizard chess; Hermione losing horribly.

"Harry!" Hermione said happily as he returned to the room. Ron looked on the verge of criticizing her playing, and she looked keen to give him a distraction.

"How'd it go?" Ron asked, turning to Harry.

"_Scourgify_ cleared the dishes up in a - "

"Not that!" Hermione snapped.

"Huh?" said Harry, clearly missing something in this conversation.

"Well, Mum didn't actually _want_ you to clean!" Ron said irritably. "She set you up with Ginny!"

Harry was reminded of a television program he had heard when he was fifteen, eavesdropping under the outside window of the Dursley's living room: A woman's friend had set her up on a blind date.

"What makes you say that?" he asked.

"Because Mrs. Weasley could've _Scourgify_-ied all the dishes herself," Hermione said, looking at him rather pityingly.

"She obliviously wanted you to flirt or something," Ron said.

"Um…well, I guess it didn't go too well, then," said Harry sadly. He told them about Ginny had started embarrassing herself.

After Harry finished, Ron gave a low whistle.

"It's just like being eleven again for her, eh?" he said, grinning.

"Oh, Ron, don't be so immature!" Hermione snapped.

"What?"

"She was only a little nervous!"

"Well, I'm sorry I don't know all her emotions! I'm not Ginny's best friend!"

"I'm sure glad of that!"

"_Excuse _me, Hermione Jane?"

"It's just the same when you were fifteen, isn't it?"

"What d'ya mean?"

"You are still the most insensitive wart I've ever have the misfortune to meet!"

Ron, stung by this, retaliated by saying, "And yet, you still went out with _McLaggen_!"

Harry almost smiled. Ron and Hermione still bickered like and old couple, but he still felt that there was something he didn't know.


	4. Chapter 4

Over the next two weeks, Harry, as usual, was enjoying his stay, but also thinking about the Order of the Phoenix.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had both told Harry in person that they would be going back to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix by the end of July.

"Has there been any news from Hogwarts?" Harry asked them.

"No," Mr. Weasley said. "But I expect if they close or keep the school open, we should be expecting those letters soon."

Bill still bore some gruesome scars on his face, but his personality remained the same. He usually came downstairs to meals (even though Mrs. Weasley had objected) and visited with everyone.

Ron had informed Harry that Mrs. Weasley sent out a letter to Percy (the Prat, as he and Ginny called him) telling him about the wedding along with the time and date, but there had been no reply.

In the meantime, Harry, Ron, and Ginny enjoyed playing Quidditch in the yard, while Hermione insisted that she should study spells and such because if they don't go back to Hogwarts, she needs to know all she can, but Harry and Ron knew that another reason was that she wasn't very good at Quidditch. Harry just played unevenly between Ron and Ginny.

While they were playing, Ginny flew out of nowhere and accidentally knocked into Harry, who hadn't expected her Fleur-replica Eskimo boots to knock his broom forward, causing _him_ to fall forward. He almost slipped off his Firebolt if Ginny hadn't caught his hand a moment before.

When he climbed back on, he was still holding her hand. Ginny was shaking her hand slightly with vigor, trying to make him let go. When Harry finally realized that, he let go hastily. She was now floating beside him and he could smell that familiar scent of flowers.

"Oh, sorry," he said hurriedly, then shot of to look for the golf ball (that Pigwidgeon had brought home, almost choking himself) that he bewitched to fly around.

Time passed by too quickly for Harry to notice. Soon enough, he woke up the day of Fleur's and Bill's wedding.

He woke up to the old common sound of a _pop_ in Fred and George's room at eight-thirty in the morning, and muttered groggily, "Whozair?"

"The Almighty One," said a fake deep, sarcastic voice, but then it turned recognizable: "Nah, it's just us!"

Harry put on his glasses properly to see the two blurry figures in the bedroom.

Fred and George Weasley, both with the red Weasley-trait hair, freckles, and a bit shorter than Ron, were standing in the middle of the room. Fred wore black dragon skin dress robes, and some did George, but his were deep green.

Harry got out of bed and shook their hands.

"Hey, Harry," said George, after shaking his hand.

"Like the outfits?" Fred asked. "As we told you before, we're practically rollin' in the dough."

"Yeah, they're nice," Harry agreed. "Just stay away from Ron, he'll sure be jealous."

"We bought him some, so he can't complain," George said roughly.

"Off Harry's orders, though," Fred reminded him.

"Yeah, about that," George said. "Thanks a lot, Harry, we honestly couldn't of started a joke shop without the gold."

"No problem," Harry said wearily, running a hand though his untidy hair. "Listen, why don't you two go see your family, I'm gonna get changed…."

"Alright," the twins said in unison, and both of them disappeared in a loud _pop_.

Harry had bought a pair of new dress robes before the wedding on his trip with the Weasley's to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions in Diagon Alley when their robes did not fit anymore.

The twins had roused Ron, and he was still in his pajamas when Harry arrived in Ron's room.

" - 's only eight thirty!" Ron moaned at the twins when Harry came in.

"So you're not ready, I take it?" Harry said.

"This lot get to your head too, Harry?" Ron groaned.

"Well, I just thought it'd be a good idea to get ready - "

"Yeah, listen to the smart one, Ickle Won-W - " George teased, but was cut off when Ron threw his pillow at them.

"Get lost!" Ron barked.

The twins shrugged, (though smiling in an evil way) and Disapparated.

"They're _nuts_, I tell you," Ron said, falling back onto his bed.

"I don't think _that's_ what's gotten into you," Harry said helpfully. On the contrary, Ron looked quite pale.

"Wha- oh, I'm fine." said Ron shortly.

"Suit yourself," said Harry before departing.

Within a half an hour, everyone was dressed and down in the kitchen, everyone except Fleur, Bill, Mrs. and Mrs. Weasley (Mrs. Weasley with Fleur, and Mr. Weasley will Bill), and Ginny.

Hermione had used the same hair spray on her hair in the fourth year for the Yule Ball, and was wearing a slim blue dress, Ron, normal dress robes that the twins had bought him, which were plain black like Harry's. Harry was expecting Ginny to wear pale gold as Fleur had instructed.

Finally, Ginny came traipsing down the landing. Her hair was curled and placed in a ponytail that did not use all her hair. Her dress was pale gold, slim, with lace at the end.

"Fleur was just doing my hair," said Ginny, pointing unnecessarily at her styled hair. "Mum's helping her, and Dad's gonna help Bill."

"When are the Delacour' coming?" Hermione asked.

"Soon Ron answered.

"What're they like?" Harry asked.

"Dunno," Ron said. "We never met the parents."

"Gabrielle's coming, right?" Hermione asked.

"She has to," Ginny replied. "Or else I'm the only flower girl."

"Are you using Fleur's carnations?" Harry asked, remembering the fiasco.

"Roses," Ginny answered.

A little bit later, Mrs. Weasley, (who didn't look very patchy in her dress robes, which made a nice difference to her everyday robes) ushered them outside.

The garden was looking very nice. There were many lawn chairs spread out, a small alter up front, and a white carpet. The bright day seemed to top it all off magnificently.

"Why don't you go find seats?" Mrs. Weasley suggested. "The Delacour's have just arrived, Arthur's with them. They'll be out here soon, then you can do some introducing to your mother, father, and sister in-laws." she added to her redheaded children.

After Mrs. Weasley bustled away, Ginny said, "D'ya think they're as hollow-headed as Fleur?"

"I hope not," Hermione muttered.

"Aren't your parents coming, Hermione?" Harry asked as they all sat down in the lawn chairs. Hermione and Ron sat on either sides of Harry, Ginny sat next to Hermione, and Fred and George sat next to Ron.

"No, they're busy."

"Percy?" Harry asked, turning to Ron.

"No answer," he said grimly. "I don't think he cared much about Bill, anyways."

"That's what makes him such a prat!" Ginny snapped. "He doesn't care about anyone, just his position in the Ministry of Morons and Department of Dungbrains!"

Before the Delacour's came outside, (Harry saw through the window) Hermione started sniffing and her eyes grew bright.

"Er…what's up?" Ron asked feebly.

"If there's one thing I can't stand more than funerals," she choked out, "it's weddings! They're so happy, and they make me…well, it's silly, never mind…."

"We could go get you a tissue box," Ron said jokingly.

Hermione sprang to her feet. Apparently she had taken him seriously. "Alright then, come on!" And then she dragged Ron to the back door.

Harry gave a small laugh. The Weasley's all seemed to look a bit smug, because Ginny's mouth was twitching. Once again, Harry felt that there was something he didn't know.

The Delacour's came outside a moment later. Harry turned in his seat slightly to see them properly:

Mrs. Delacour was a tall, thin, and beautiful woman with ocean-blue eyes and long silvery hair, just as Fleur's. She wore a long pale lavender dress.

Gabrielle, who had grown three years older than when Harry had seen her last, was wearing a slim pale gold and holding the basket of roses. She almost resembled a miniature Fleur, but with short blonde hair.

Mr. Delacour had straight, short blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. He wore a gray-black tuxedo with a pale blue carnation pinned to the front. (No doubt Mrs. Weasley gave it to him - Fleur must've instructed that.)

Gabrielle craned her neck up a bit to see everyone in their seats. Her eyes sparkled excitedly when she saw Harry, and smiled broadly.

Ginny got up abruptly and strode over to the Delacour's. After looking like she greeted the adults, she struck a conversation with Gabrielle.

Fred and George followed soon after. Before George passed Harry, he nudged him and muttered, "They want to meet you to, c'mon!"

Harry followed the twins over to the Delacour's. Gabrielle looked at Harry brightly.

"Fred," Fred greeted, shaking the adults hands. "And this is George." He indicated his brother, who shook their hands after him.

"Er…Harry…" Harry said hesitantly. "Potter - "

"Ah, ve've 'eard zo much e'bout zou from Fleur," Mrs. Delacour said throatily. "Zhe speaks 'ighly of zou."

Mr. Delacour nodded in agreement. "This is Gabrielle - you might remember her from the Triwizard Tournament."

Mr. Delacour spoke in a deep, British accent, unlike his wife and children.

Gabrielle blushed at the mention of her, but stood on her tiptoes to give Harry a kiss on both sides of his cheeks.

"Zank 'ou, e'gain," she said. "For zaving me vhen my seester could not!"

"Er…no problem," Harry said. He glanced at Ginny, who had frown lines on her forehead, who apparently disagreed with Gabrielle's action.

"Why don't we sit down?" George suggested. "Other people will be coming soon, you know."

So the Delacour's, Weasley's, and one Potter took their seats. Sure enough, some people stared showing up, including Charlie, who sat next to Ginny.

Finally, Ron and Hermione joined them again. Harry was curious why Hermione or Ron didn't have the tissue box they went to get.

"Er, Hermione?" said Harry as they both sat down again. "Tissue box?"

Hermione looked surprised. "Oh…that. I just needed one, I guess."

Then she turned her face away from his and didn't speak anymore.

As more people came outside, Ginny and Gabrielle left their seats and went behind the back row, ready to toss the petals.

"Oi, look behind us!" George said abruptly.

Harry turned in his seat to see Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin sitting behind them.

Tonks's hair was a slightly longer than she had it before, but still spike-ish and bright bubble-gum pink. She had a heart-shaped face that did not look as pale as last time Harry had saw her. She wore a long dark-blue spaghetti-strap dress with blue earrings.

Lupin, who was still young, had some gray hairs among his brown. He had a prematurely lined face, but didn't look shabby with a dark tuxedo.

"Remus!" Fred exclaimed.

Lupin and Tonks smiled and Hermione said, "Tonks, it's great to see you!"

"Wotcher," Tonks said. "Good to see you lot, too."

"How are you?" Lupin asked, shaking their hands briefly.

"Doing alright," Harry said automatically. "Erm…how's…the - "

"Oh," Lupin said, catching on. "It's still a bit difficult…."

The others did not notice that Harry had asked Lupin how his life with the werewolves were going, because they engaged with Tonks on some of her noses.

Tonks changed her nose into a pig snout and gave a snort of laughter.

"Oh, Tonks!" Hermione said anxiously, "You shouldn't - I mean, we didn't _ask _you to!"

"It's alright," Tonks said, changing her nose back to normal. "I kinda have to practice anyways, after I had that trouble with it last year."

"Yeah…about that - " Ron started to say, but was cut off by a sudden sound.

Everyone looked forward: Up front, close to where they were sitting, a violin (that had been floating in midair), started to play all by itself. This was a bit unusual to Harry, (not that no one was playing it) but that they weren't using a piano.

A man suddenly Apparated on the spot, about a yard and a half away from the violin. He seemed to be the priest.

It played very nicely for an intimate object: though there was no piano, the wedding song remained the same.

Harry turned around again to see Ginny and Gabrielle, walking up the outdoor aisle. They were both holding the flower basket with their hands closest to it while the other hand tossed different tones of red and pink petals to the ground.

Once they had reached the front of the aisle, they walked over to the end to see Bill walking with Mr. Weasley, who looked ready just in case Bill fell.

Bill was certainly looking better than he had many months ago: His scars were still on his face, but were starting to heal, so that his long red hair was more noticeable than the scars now. He, like many of the other men there, was wearing black tuxedo.

Once he and Mr. Weasley finished walking up the aisle, everyone looked back again.

A much more beautiful sight was walking up the aisle: Fleur, wearing a sparkling white wedding gown that dragged on the cloth aisle. Her blonde hair was in an elegant bun with curled hair falling from underneath it. A white-transparent sparkly veil covered her face, held up by a goblin-made tiara. In her hands was a bouquet of silvery-white carnations. Next to her was Mr. Delacour. They were both arm in arm.

Mrs. Delacour could be hear sobbing in the chairs on the other side of the aisle. Fleur turned her head slightly, most likely giving her mother a smile.

Bill was beaming at his fiancé.

Once Fleur and her father reached the front of the aisle, the priest began speaking. Harry tried to listen over the sniffing of Hermione's nose, but being right next to her, she sort of impaired him.

Finally, Hermione's sniffs subsided, and Harry could hear the priest:

"- you, Bill Weasley, take this woman as your wife, in sickness and in health -"

Hermione started breaking into small but annoying sobs that only he, Charlie (who had taken Ginny's vacated spot since she left) and Ron could hear.

Bill's voice spoke after a moment form where Harry heard the priest leave off when Hermione paused:

"I do."

"And do you, Fleur Delacour, take this man to be your husband -"

Now Hermione was getting very emotional. It was only a moment later when another voice spoke.

"Zi - I do," Fleur said, correcting her French-accented "I" very quickly.

"Very well. I now pronounce you husband an wife. You may kiss the bride."

As Bill and Fleur kissed, Hermione was not the only one who could be heard crying: Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Delacour, who where sitting with each other, were both crying.

It was only then that Harry had looked around to see if anyone else was crying that he saw someone else familiar, but didn't believe it at first.

He came to Christmas last year grudgingly. He had a fight with the Weasley's. He was being hotheaded. He was being insensible. He had not wanted to see his family, yet, Percy Weasley was standing half-hidden in the shadows of a nearby tree, his horn-rimmed glasses and his red hair remained the same. His expression was unreadable, given that the tree had shadowed the bottom of his face.

Harry met Percy's gaze, and Percy made a sign of movement: He walked away, out of the yard very swiftly, and Apparated.


	5. Chapter 5

Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to tell Ron - or any of the Weasley's for that matter - about seeing Percy. He didn't think Mr. Mrs. Weasley could handle the shock, or Ron would say he's mad.

Harry remained quiet about that topic after they finished their cake at the reception.

The Weasley's had also found a different part of their garden to hold the reception.

They had set up a wood floor outside, with a food and refreshments table over by the corner along with chairs, and a large cleared spot in the middle of the floor. Harry and Ron had been sitting there, watching Fleur dance with Ginny to an upbeat song by the Weird Sisters (which was blasting out of a karaoke machine). ("Zould you like to dance to zees zong, Geeny? Eet is my favorite British zong." "Erm…okay.")

Gabrielle hesitantly made her way over to Harry. She had been gradually moving over to him the past few minutes, a very anxious and nervous look on her face. Another fan girl, perhaps?

"'Arry," Gabrielle said softly, when she was a foot away from Harry. "Vould - vould zou like to dance? "

She suddenly turned tomato-red in the face. Though she had some veela in her, this did not attract Harry as when Ginny blushed.

"Erm, okay," Harry said, since he had nothing else to do.

Fleur's favorite song was over, and now this song was less upbeat. Gabrielle kept looking over her shoulder nervously, as though she expected another Harry fan girl to attack her.

Instead of Harry _fan_ girl, another sort of girl was watching suspiciously.

_Of _course_ I'm being way to obsessive and overprotective, _Ginny thought to herself as she shook her head. _This is what the girls who don't trust their boyfriends do, isn't it? Well, technically my relationship is a little weird, but I know Harry, for Merlin's sake! It's just a dance, and I'm not getting worked up about it…._

But maybe the reason Ginny was thinking this was because _she_ wanted to dance with Harry also. She, or he, weren't exactly dancing-like people, but she still _wanted_ to.

After the dance was over, Harry and Ron departed for Ron's room. Ron had suggested it with a very pale face, and with the same tone he used that morning when he had objected to anything troubling him.

When they reached Ron's room, he immediately covered his hands on his face and moaned dramatically.

"Okay Ron, this is enough," Harry said firmly. "There's something up, and you need to tell me."

"I know!" Ron said through his hands. "Well, you're probably the only one in the house who doesn't know - "

"Go on," Harry urged.

"Alright! Hermione and I have - "

Harry didn't need Ron to finish; he had heard enough. This didn't come to him as much as a surprise, though.

So Ron and Hermione had finally started dating. They were very different, but if they didn't like each other this much, it wouldn't have happened, would it?

But of course there had been the clues: Ron, in fourth year, had not been exactly defending Hermione's decision to go to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum, but angry with her choice perhaps out of jealousy.

Then, two years later, it was Hermione's turn to get jealous. Ron and Lavender, the ("Snog Hog"),

had certainly awakened Hermione's interests in Ron, even though he criticized her on a weekly basis. But, there was certainly some, chemistry, shall we say?

Funny how the Golden Trio only have only fallen in love with people after seeing them with other people.

"I _wanted_ to tell you, Harry," Ron said, removing his hands from his face and sitting down on his bed.

"But, I just didn't know _how_! Ginny, of course, being good friends with Hermione, knew, so she told Fred and George, and Fleur overheard so she told Bill and Bill told Mum and Dad - "

"Interesting," Harry said, very amused by the family rumor. "So…are you guys, er, 'steady'?"

Er, well, yeah, since I'm not seeing other girls," Ron said. "But we decided nothing like serious snogging, just see how everything turns out, 'cause you know how we always fight."

"Who doesn't know?" Harry responded. "Wait - about the thing Hermione said a while ago: 'As my - ' Boyfriend was the missing word, wasn't it?"

"I think so,"

"And the tissue box, feel comfortable sharing that with me?"

"No, not really, but I guess I will. Er…snog session…."

Harry laughed. "What happened to taking it slow, Ron?"

"It wasn't Lavender-snog; you know Hermione'd never allow it. I'm not saying I _wanted _too, though." he added sharply.

And you barely escaped your mum, did you?"

"Actually, yeah,"

"But Hermione _did_ use a tissue, right?"

"Oh, Merlin, yes. _Before _snogging, thank you very much."

"Just curious,"

"Now, since you've asked _me_ all these questions," Ron said, abruptly changing the subject. "You have to tell me about _yours_. God, we sound like girls, eh?"

"Well, there isn't anything, honestly."

"I wouldn't think so. You don't snog Ginny, now do you?"

"It all comes down to safety, really; I don't want anyone hurt. But it's something I have to do, isn't it? Maybe, just maybe, if I can finish off the Horcruxes and Voldemort - "

"Good goal, mate."

Just then, Hermione poked her head in the doorway, looking anxious.

"Oh, there you two are," she said. "Um…what were you talking about?"

By the look on her face, she was charged guilty.

"Hermione!" Ron said. "You've been eavesdropping, haven't you?"

Hermione clenched her teeth. "Maybe a little…."

"This certainly is awkward," Harry said in a casual voice.

"Okay," Hermione said, sitting down next to Ron. "Maybe I sort of, kind of, a little bit followed you two upstairs."

She suddenly turned crimson, giving Ron a small smile.

"At least I don't have to tell you what Harry knows," he said, leaning back.

Hermione turned to Harry.

"Seems unbelievable, doesn't it?"

"If you say so," said Harry.

Finding nothing else to do, the trio went back downstairs, only to find Mrs. Weasley sitting at the table, reading a letter addressed to "Miss G. Weasley" in green ink.

"Mrs. Weasley?" Harry said. "Is that the Hogwarts letter?"

"Oh, yes," she said, looking up at them. "They had only just arrived - here -"

Mrs. Weasley passed Harry, Ron, and Hermione their letters. Harry opened his apprehensively.

It said,

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_It is our displeasure to inform you that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has closed. Given the recent events, we find that it would be safer to close the school. The following shows other available schools to attend._

_Sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Headmistress_

Harry looked at the other piece of parchment folded behind it. There were some other school names, and one of them including a familiar one he knew: Beauxbatons Academy of Magic.

"Blimey," Ron muttered, setting his letter down and looking at them. "It sounds shut down for good, doesn't it?"

"Yes," said Hermione. "Until the Wizarding world isn't in danger anymore, I think."

"Mum," said Ron, turning to his mother. "Are you still gonna send us to school?"

"Well," said Mrs. Weasley thoughtfully. "I have to discuss it with you father. You may not need to, but Ginny certainly has to."


	6. Chapter 6

"No - listen, I'm fine - "

"Hold still, Ron!"

"It's just a - "

"Here, Mrs. Weasley."

Hermione managed to hold Ron still. Peering at the burn on his arm, she waved her wand at it, and it started to heal.

The next week since the wedding had arrived, and the Weasley's were trying to tidy up their house before leaving to go to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. (Bill and Fleur were on their honeymoon in north Europe.) While Harry, Ron, and Hermione were weeding out gnomes, Ron got a burn from a rather nasty baby fire crab.

"I still don't understand how they got into our backyard," said Mrs. Weasley, shaking her head and closing her book of remedies on the kitchen table. "They don't exactly live around here, do they?"

Ron looked down at his arm and then at Hermione.

"Eh…."

"He's back to normal," said Hermione briskly, evidently pleased at Ron's lack of gratitude.

Mrs. Weasley looked up at the clock on the wall that showed all the Weasley family's names on it (Which were all pointing to "Mortal Peril" as usual.) But Mr. Weasley's had just turned to "Traveling".

"Oh, good," said Mrs. Weasley. "When Arthur gets here, we're leaving."

"How are we getting there?" Harry asked.

"Well, we'll Apparate in front of the headquarters." Mrs. Weasley said. "Ginny's not old enough yet, so I'm doing Side-along with her, and…"

She bit her lip.

"Oh, I forgot - you and Ron can't, can you?"

"Er…Harry can," Ron said placidly, "even though he's not old enough."

"Do you want to Side-along with Hermione, then?"

"I can do it myself!" said Ron indignantly. Harry glanced over at Hermione, who had a eyebrow raised.

"So you want to end up without your eyebrow again?" she said, sniggering slightly.

"Like it matters," said Ron gruffly.

Frown lines appeared on Hermione's forehead, and just then, Mr. Weasley arrived at the door, and Mrs. Weasley went to meet him just as Ginny came downstairs.

Noticing the matching resentful looks on both Ron and Hermione's expressions, she stepped towards them hesitantly.

"Erm…so where is our Apparition spot?" she asked.

"Just in front of Grimmauld Place," Hermione informed her, then muttered, "Unless you want to know where Ron's going, London."

It looked as though Ron had heard her, because his eyes flashed.

Harry, sensing the atmosphere growing tenser, persuaded Ron to go upstairs to get their bags.

As soon as they entered Ron's room, he exploded with fury.

"Who does she think she is! I expected her big brain to at least register that I _know _I'm not good at Apparition, but she still mocks me anyways! She's - "

"Ron!" said Harry firmly, cutting him across. "It's surprising, hearing this from me, but I think the reason Hermione got all worked up because you offended her!"

"Already have a copy of her book, do you?" said Ron, noting the thing he said to Hermione two years ago about writing a book about girl's feelings. "I didn't say anything to her!"

"Well, I think she would've liked it if you _did_ Apparate with her," Harry answered.

"Is it really that big of a deal?" said Ron, sounding more exasperated than angry now.

"Well, you're her boyfriend, aren't you?"

Ron paused before answering.

"She could've said something instead of insulting me!"

"Yeah, I agree on that, mate."

There was a moment's pause until Ron muttered, "Let's get our stuff."

Harry nodded as he picked up his luggage, Hedwig's cage safely under his arm; Hedwig's

When Harry and Ron returned to the kitchen, Hermione and Ginny were not there.

"Probably outside already," Harry suggested.

Sure enough, the Weasley's and Hermione were outside when Harry and Ron came out.

"Here, dear," said Mrs. Weasley anxiously, rushing towards them and taking Ron's bag.

"Your father will hold onto that while he Apparates; I've got Ginny's."

When Mrs. Weasley strode back to Mr. Weasley, Harry turned to Ron.

"I guess whoever is Apparating alone holds their bags," Harry said obviously. "So…."

He looked at Ron, his eyebrows raised.

"Fine!" Ron said, exasperated. "I'll go talk to her!"

"Do it in a _nice _way," said Harry hastily, before Ron turned away. "And think about what your saying before you say it; I had to learn that with Cho."

Ron exhaled heavily and walked over to Hermione. Harry felt, as Ron walked away, that his relationship between Hermione was much more trouble than it was worth, and Ron didn't seem to care.

Mrs. Weasley bustled up to Harry again.

"Dear, if you can't Apparate properly, you could go with Arthur - "

"No, it's okay Mrs. Weasley," said Harry reassuringly. "I've done it before, long-distance, too."

"Well, if you're sure," she said apprehensively, then walked away again.

"Is everyone ready?" Mr. Weasley's voice called out abruptly.

Harry clutched the handle of his bag tightly, ready.

Before Mr. Weasley spoke again ("On the count of three - "), Harry distinctly heard Hermione say, "Now, Ron, just grab my arm - "

Harry glanced over at them. He smiled when he saw that Ron, giving Harry a shifty smile, grabbed Hermione's hand instead.

Hermione's tense and apprehensive expression softened, and she stared at Ron for a moment.

That was all Harry saw until Mr. Weasley yelled, "Three!"

Harry quickly spun on the spot, imagining Number 12, Grimmauld Place in his mind firmly, and felt the uncomfortable feeling of successful Apparition.


	7. Chapter 7

Harry landed in front of Number 12, Grimmauld Place on all fours with a _thud_. He got up, brushed his hands, and looked up at the shabby door squeezed between two houses. Harry looked round and saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had landed neatly, except for Ginny, who was hoisting herself up from the ground with her mother's hand.

There was a _pop!_ from somewhere next to Harry, and Ron and Hermione appeared. Ron was bent over, gasping for air.

"I haven't - " he said between gasps, "realized how scary that is when - when it's a long distance."

"Well, it wasn't easy for me either, love," Hermione said, also puffing, pulling Ron to his feet.

"Come on now, you lot!" Mrs. Weasley's voice called as she gestured to the door while Mr. Weasley unlocked the door.

Harry trudged his trunk up the steps to the door as Mr. Weasley opened the door.

The inside of Sirius's house was very dark until the candle's were lit with a wave of Mr. Weasley's wand. The light illuminated the heads of dead house elves on wooden plaques all along the hallway wall. Harry, not keen to even be here, let alone look at the beheaded creatures, hurried along the hall in Mr. Weasley's wake.

Once they had reached the end of the hall, Mrs. Weasley announced, "Harry and Ron, back to your old rooms, Ginny and Hermione, same for you. Dinner will be ready in a few hours."

Harry and Ron brought their trunks up to their room in a few minutes time.

"So," said Harry, releasing Hedwig from her cage as she flew to the open window with a happy hoot. "I didn't know you were, um… _passionate_."

Ron ears turned a bright pink as he fumbled to unlock Pigwideon's cage.

"What gives you that idea?"

"Oh, I dunno… holding Hermione's hand - "

"I just took your advice!"

"Ah…of course you did,"

Just as Harry and Ron stepped out of their room, a mane of red hair flew past them.

"Oh - sorry - " Ginny said distractedly, removing a red apron from her messenger bag as she rushed past them. "Mum - MUM! I'm going to work!"

"Ginny works?" Harry said curiously to Ron.

"Yeah," he answered, leaning against the stair banister. "It's mad, really. After she gets her pay, - Muggle money, can you believe? - she goes to some old bloke's house and trades his Wizard money for the

Mugg …"

Ginny ran back up the stairs again, muttering in an irritated tone, "Name tag, name tag, where is my damn - "

She stopped by Harry and Ron's room, and picked up a white name tag from the wooden floor. Before she could run back down the stairs, Harry said,

"Hey, Ginny, d'ya want me to Apparate you there?"

Ginny stopped abruptly, and turned around, all rushing about her tardiness forgotten. She pondered the invitation for a moment, then said,

"That'd be nice," and her mouth cracked into a smile.

Ron looked at Harry for a moment, a bit bemused. Then Harry asked, "So, where do you work?"

"London Grocers," she replied.

"Good, I've been there before," Harry said, feeling relieved. He hoped that it was some place he knew where to go, because he didn't just want to Apparate Ginny there, he wanted to _be _with her.

"Really?" Ginny mused as they walked down the stairs.

"With the Dursley's," Harry replied.

With a good-bye to her mother and a explanation why Harry was coming, Ginny and Harry left the house.

"Now," Ginny said as they left the steps. "Can you remember it well?"

Harry strained his brain to remember the scene when Aunt Petunia made him sit outside on the bench when she and Dudley went inside to get groceries. All Harry could do was "Stay put," and look at his surroundings, luckily enough.

"Yeah," Harry said after a moment. "D'ya mind if we appear behind the dumpster?"

"As long as no one sees us," Ginny said cautiously.

She grasped his arm, and Harry was so surprised for a moment as to why she was doing that. But he quickly remember a split second later why she was holding his arm.

"Erm, okay…." Harry said slowly. "Here goes…."

He turned, concentrating on his destination firmly, and then, with the highly uncomfortable feeling of being squeezed through a tight rubber tube, Harry and Ginny Apparated behind a very smelly dumpster, which made it hard for Harry to gulp air in because of the smell.

"This is interesting," Ginny said, holding her nose. "Nice view, don't you think?"

"Heh," Harry said, holding his nose also. He just realized how close they were behind this dumpster.

"Not that I'm ungrateful or anything," Ginny said, turning and squeezing her way from behind the dumpster and throwing her apron on.

"But I think I prefer broomsticks."

"Me too," Harry agreed.

Ginny stepped towards the entrance, two automatic sliding doors, and she stopped.

"You know, Harry, you don't have to go," she said softly.

Harry had just been wanting for an invitation, trying to be polite, or else he would've come anyways.

"Okay," he said happily, and walked with her inside.

As soon as Harry and Ginny walked into London Grocers, Ginny was immediately confronted by Garrett Urell.

"Miss Weasley," he hissed with pure venom in his voice. "You're late. _Again_. I cannot have people who always slack off and never take pride in their job to wok here. Being lazy and - "

He stopped abruptly when he saw Harry.

"Excuse us, sir," Garrett said shortly, gesturing aggressively for Ginny to follow him. By the looks of it, he was headed into the back room.

Ginny turned her head as she was walking that purely read, "_Help me!_"

"Oh, no, no," Harry said, running up and grabbing Ginny's wrist. "It's _my_ fault, sir. I - er, drove her here, and traffic - "

"Very well," Garrett said through gritted teeth. "But it better not happen again." he added to Ginny with pure loathing in his voice, as though a treat had just been snatched away from him, and strode into the back room.

"Thanks," Ginny said gratefully. "Funny thought, though, you driving."

"I'd rather not," Harry said.

"Well, let me show you that nutty things I do," she said brightly, striding over to her cash register, which had a sign above it that said, "4".

After Ginny had served a customer, she looked over at Harry for his response.

"Well, I was raised by Muggles, don't forget." he answered her expression. "But a witch as a cash register for a Muggle store, now that's something."

A moment passed, and Harry demanded abruptly, "Why is that prat such a jerk to you?'

"Well, I suppose he's a prat to a lot of people," Ginny mused, "but he's jealous that I was promoted quicker than he had when he first worked here, and didn't agree 'cause he thought I was lazy, and he didn't think I was worth anything."

"But you're worth more than a damn!" said Harry angrily.

"You know what, Harry?" she said, perking up. "You're right - hold on."

Ginny pressed a button on the phone next to her, picked it up, and spoke into the receiver, which echoed in the store through speakers.

"Garrett, register four; Garret, register four."

A second later, Garrett stormed out of the back room, still looking testy.

"What?" he snapped as he reached Ginny.

"Well," she said, her voice high of mock sadness. "You've been a jerk and all, and I'm happy to tell you I quit. Good-bye!"

With that said, she tossed her apron into Garrett's face, and without another word, before Garret could say anything, she linked her arm in Harry's arm and steered him out of the store.

"That was brilliant," he said approvingly.

"I've thought about it before," Ginny said thoughtfully, "but I didn't know if I should. Thanks for rescuing me from hell."

She gave him a bright smile, and Harry's stomach erupted with butterfly's; the monster in his chest stirring.

"Well, let's go," Ginny said.

She grabbed his arm, and seeing no one in sight, Harry Apparated.

They arrived in the front of Number 12, Grimmauld Place, and after a few breaths, they went inside.

After they reached the end of the hallway, Ginny bid him a "See you later," and headed off to the kitchen to help her mother with dinner.

When Harry started to go up the stairs to him and Ron's room, he was delayed by the appearance of Hermione and Ron, running down the stairs toward him.

"Harry," Hermione said frantically. "Come on, there's something you need to see!"

With that, she grabbed his arm as they all ran upstairs, down another hallway, and stopped abruptly. Harry just stood there, looking at the tapestry in front of him. It was the tapestry of the Black family and their relatives.

"What about it?" Harry asked.

"Look at this, mate," said Ron, holding a quivering finger up to Regulus Black's name.

"Regulus, yeah - "

"Harry!" said Hermione, wide-eyed and looking incredulous. "Regulus Black! _R.B._!"

"What? R.A.B.!" Harry said, looked amazed, staring at both of them. "What's his middle name?"

"I don't know," Hermione said slowly, "but I'm prepared to bet Crookshanks it started with an A."


	8. Chapter 8

"So, Regulus was R.A.B.," said Harry conversationally. "It all fits!"

"Yes," Hermione said as they approached Harry and Ron's bedroom. "Ronald I just passed it while you and

Ginny were gone, and _he _found it." She looked at her boyfriend affectionately.

"I know, I'm brilliant!" Ron said, beaming.

They all entered the bedroom, and Harry automatically sat on his bed, while Ron and Hermione sat on Ron's.

"Hey," said Harry softly, just remembering something. "In the note in the fake Horcrux, Regulus called Voldemort "the Dark Lord". Don't Death Eater's only call Voldie that?"

"That also makes sense," said Hermione, nodding. "And that brought us to another question: Did Regulus ever destroy the Horcrux as he said he would?"

There was a pause, and then Harry said, a little to loudly, "The Horcrux! Slytherin's locket! Don't you remember, there was a locket that couldn't be opened? _In this house_?"

"Exactly!" Ron exclaimed. "Merlin, who'da thought, a Horcrux in this house all along!"

"Have you guys seen it at all?" Harry asked apprehensively.

"No," Hermione said, now sounding disappointed. "There's a lot of things in this house, so it wouldn't be easy to find."

"True," said Harry, also looking crestfallen.

Someone suddenly knocked on the door.

"Dinner's ready!" rang Mrs. Weasley's voice.

The trio went downstairs to the kitchen, only to find one of Mrs. Weasley's good meals on their plates.

"But, that's not all just me," said Mrs. Weasley proudly. Everyone stared at her. Even Mr. Weasley, who had just arrived home, looked slightly bemused.

"I had some help from Winky!" said Mrs. Weasley fondly.

Winky the house elf appeared next to Mrs. Weasley at the sound of her name. She had brown tennis ball-sized eyes and had a clean pillowcase (instead of the old one she once had) she used as a toga.

Hermione dropped her fork on her plate with a clatter. Her expression was nothing short of indignity. Ron scooted away from her nervously.

"Why is Winky here?" she asked, her voice shaky.

"Oh, well," said Mrs. Weasley as Winky looked around at them with a toothy grin, looking completely sober. "A nice little elf named Dobby suggested she come here to help us. He's very fond of you, Harry - " She looked over at Harry. " - and thought she would like to come here since she wasn't doing very well!"

Winky did seem a great deal happier than she had the last time he saw her, when she had been drunk and wallowing over her former masters, the Crouch's.

Hermione looked round at Ron, still looking cross.

"Back me up, here!" she muttered through gritted teeth.

"She looks happy," he mumbled, not meeting her eyes and instead stared at his food.

Hermione looked as though she would explode.

While Harry was shoveling down his baked potatoes, he felt something poke him on his knee. He looked down, and saw Winky's smiling face.

"Oh, Harry Potter, sir," she said excitedly. "I is so happy to see you again!"

"It's good to see you, too, Winky," Harry said, smiling down at her.

"Mistress Molly Weasley has let me help in the Order!" she squealed, standing on the tips of her toes.

"Dobby wanted me to come here. So I says to myself, 'Why doesn't Winky help the Order?' So I do! It has helped me think of my former masters less, and more of helping the good side of this war!"

Her brown eyes grew wide with happiness and she hugged Harry around his waist. Then she trotted off past Ron and Hermione, but trotted faster by Hermione after glancing at her.

After eating all their stomachs could hold, Harry, Ron, and Hermione got up from the table and were about to leave when Mrs. Weasley said, "Oh, wait, you lot, there's some cleaning to do before you go to bed. There's doxies to spray in the drawing room - there are still more."

Ron groaned as they set off upstairs, spray cans in hand, cloths, and a garbage bag. Mrs. Weasley had already put the antidote in the drawing room when they arrived.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sprayed the small, dark doxies as they came out of their hiding spaces. These doxies seemed feistier than the other doxies they had sprayed a couple years ago, and they especially liked to aim for your face; Hermione almost got doxie spray in her eyes from Ron while he tried to spray the doxies she didn't see.

Harry looked down for a second, and noticed one doxie had fallen to the ground, probably when he had sprayed it, he hadn't thrown it away.

But when Harry bent down to pick it up, it was not a doxie at all. Instead, it was a dark locket, with an ornate "S" printed on it.

Harry gasped, picking it up.

"Ron, Hermione," he said hoarsely. "I dunno if you're having too much fun to notice, but I found a Horcrux."


	9. Chapter 9

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting together on Harry's bed while Harry twirled the Horcrux in his fingers. Such overwhelming happiness had filled his body that he wouldn't be surprised if he started to float. Finally, a Horcrux…now there was just two things nagging him.

"So, how to we destroy it?" Ron said, breaking the silence that had lasted after they left the drawing room. This was one of the things that he had been thinking of.

"Dunno," mumbled Harry, holding the Horcrux up to eye level. "Maybe some powerful magic."

"Not necessarily," said Hermione briskly. "There's always Muggle ways…maybe a knife, sword, hammer…you name it; they're worth a shot."

"Ah, but I've got an even better idea," said Ron excitedly. "Hermione, I may be replacing you as a genius, but…."

He stood up, went around to his bedside table, and picked up his wand, twirled it, and pointed it at the Horcrux as a gesture.

"I've got this amazing idea…" he told them, reading their curious expressions. "Gimme something you don't need…." Harry looked around, finding a small extra pillow, and handed it to him. "Alright, watch - _Diffindo_!"

The pillow split in two, sending tufts of stuffing floating about their knees and feet. Ron looked at them anxiously. Harry looked impressed; this could break the Horcrux!

But when Ron looked at Hermione's expression, his face fell. She, unlike Harry, looked as though restraining herself from sighing.

"Ron…I don't think it's that simple."

"Well, why not?" Ron said defiantly. "It's like you said, it's worth a shot!"

"I think that it would require a stronger experience with that spell before breaking a powerful Dark Magic object."

There was a pause, and when Ron's wand arm fell to his side, he said, "Guess so…."

"Then I think Harry should practice," Hermione said, regaining a brisk tone. "Practice makes perfect, doesn't it?"

"Just Harry?" said Ron, looking at her quizzically. "I think we _all_ should."

"Well, I think that would be a good idea, too…."

"Tell you what," said Harry's voice abruptly. "We can do this tomorrow. For now, I'm completely exhausted, so I'm going to bed. If you two have been waiting to snog each other senseless, this would be a good time, but do it somewhere else, if you don't mind."

Ron and Hermione turned pink, actually looking like they were considering the thought. But all Ron did was give Hermione's hand a squeeze and bid her good night. Both boys fell asleep at once.

Harry woke up the next morning, forgetting why he was so anxious for a split second. But then it hit him: The Horcrux. He quickly put on his glasses and got dressed. By then, Ron had finally waken up.

"So, whadaya think?" he said drowsily, getting up into a sitting position. "This Horcrux…we can finally destroy it…."

"We can practice _Diffindo_ after breakfast," Harry said. "Then we can practice with Hermione."

When they arrived in the kitchen, everyone but Hermione was there.

"Where's Hermy?" Ron wondered aloud, helping himself to some waffles that Winky had just served.

"Right here!" answered a voice from the doorway.

Hermione walked over to the table, sat down next to Ron, and said to both Harry and Ron, "Well, I was just looking in the spell book I got when we went shopping, the _Standard Book of Spells Grade 7_, and didn't see anything else that could be used to destroy the Horcrux, but when I was looking in my book of potions, there's certain ones that we can use to burn the Horcrux! You see - "

Ron suddenly kissed Hermione, and said, "Thank you, Hermione, can I eat my waffles now?"

Hermione hardened her stare at him.

"You still want to use the Diffindo one, don't you?"

But Ron's mouth was so full of waffle that when he tried to speak, he only made an inaudible sound.

"I can bring my books with me to Witherwing's old room. That should be where we study."

"Great," Ron mumbled after swallowing his waffles. "No more school and we _still _have to study."

"Well, if you don't want to," snapped Hermione. "Then don't bother helping!"

She snatched a waffle from the platter, and forgetting the rest of the other varieties of food, stood up, and said, "I'll go get my books and be in Buckbeak's room," and strode away.

Ron stared after her curiously and turned to Harry.

"Did I say something wrong?'

"I dunno…" Harry said. "You know Hermione…easy to tick off."

"I _know_," said Ron agreed. "It really ticks _me _off!"

But, Harry and Ron still met Hermione up in Buckbeak's old room. Ron, who did not want to incense Hermione any further, brought his cauldron up with them.Hermione was sitting on clean patch of floor; some parts of the wooden floor were dirty. She glanced up at them when they entered, her eyes lingering on Ron's caldron.

"I'm open to any suggestions on how we can destroy the Horcrux," he confessed.

"Thank you, Ronald, that's much better," said Hermione, sounding like a shrink to a patient, and looking back down a her potions book which was held up by a small stack of books.

"Found anything?" Harry asked, walking over to her and peering down at her book.

"Yes, I did," Hermione said, flipping back a few pages. "I was about to tell you that before I was, er - _interrupted._" She looked over at Ron, who grinned and said, "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"There are some potions that can melt objects…." Hermione said, looking down at her book as she tried to conceal a small smile. "Like this one here…" she pointed to a picture of slow bubbling potion in a large cauldron. "but personally, I wouldn't like having to reach my hand in the cauldron to get the Horcrux back out if it didn't melt."

"Me neither," said Harry and Ron at the same time.

"So, after looking at that," Hermione continued, "I decided that we can go back to _Diffindo_ for now."

Ron beamed.

"Ron, can I use your cauldron for a moment?" Harry asked. If he needed to practice, a cauldron would be a good match, compared to the Horcrux.

"Sure," Ron said.

"_Diffindo!_" Harry said, waving his wand at the cauldron that lay on the floor by Ron's feet.

The cauldron split cleanly in two. As the halves hit the floor, it made two _thuds_.

"_Reparo_," Harry said, and the cauldron repaired itself at once.

"Uh-oh," said Ron walking over to his cauldron. "What if it works on the Horcrux, but someone _Reparo_'s it?"

"I don't think that will be a problem," said Hermione. "See, once you destroy the Horcrux, I'm guessing that part of the soul is gone. So then - "

"It'd just be a locket!" Harry finished. Excitement had once again flooded throughout his body as he pulled out the Horcrux in his pocket.

"Want me to give it a go?"

Ron and Hermione nodded mutely.

Harry inhaled deeply, put the Horcrux on the floor, and pointed his wand at it.

"_DIFFINDO_!" Harry cried.

And with a loud hiss, the Horcrux cracked open.


	10. Chapter 10

Thin green smoke swirled out from the hollow halves of the broken Horcrux. It sat there motionless, and the faint green smoke disappeared. Harry, Ron, and Hermione just stared; Harry's wand still pointed at the Horcrux.

Finally, Ron's voice broke the silence:

"Wow…Harry, you did it!"

Harry's wand arm fell to his side as he looked at his friends.

"Yeah…." he said softly.

"Now that's one piece of Voldemort's soul gone!" said Hermione enthusiastically. "Now there's only a few more to go, right?"

"Yes," Harry answered. "It's really this simple…."

"For this Horcrux," said Ron. "But the snake…well, that'd be a mess."

He reached down to pick up the Horcrux, but Hermione grabbed his wrist.

"I don't know if it's safe to touch yet…" Hermione told him. "Hold on, let me try something…."

She pointed her wand at the broken locket, and water issued from the wand tip. The Horcrux hissed again, this time faint white smoke coming from it.

"Now, I think it's safe," Hermione said, and simply picked up the locket.

Nothing happened.

"So…you still right in the head?" Ron asked.

"Yes," said Hermione.

"Well, now that this bit of his soul is gone, we're just gonna have to find the other bits to, right?" Ron said.

"Hold on," said Harry quickly. "_We_ aren't doing anything. This is _my_ problem - I don't want you two getting mixed up in it." This was the second thing that had been bothering him.

"We already told you this at the funeral," said Hermione, sounding firm. "We're sticking to you, because we're already mixed up in it, whether you like it or not. We've made up our minds. We're going to help you."

"You can't really think of doing this yourself," Ron joined in. "You'd die. If we stick together, we can do it, but if we're divided, we could be in more danger."

Harry breathed heavily.

"It's just," he started to say slowly. "If _you _two die, then I'd be responsible because I dragged you into this mess."

"You're not dragging us," said Hermione briskly. "We're choosing to come."

"But it would still be my fault - "

"Harry, mate, if we didn't care about you, we wouldn't be doing this," said Ron resolutely.

"Even if it was your fault, we don't care," said Hermione.

A pause followed these words.

"Fine," said Harry looking at them sternly. "But this is serious. We can't - "

"We _know_," said Ron. "Now, c'mon, Dad told me the Apparition test was today at noon - "

He suddenly turned a pale green.

"Bathroom," he said hoarsely, and bolted out the door.

"Poor Ron, throwing up every time he has the chance," said Hermione, shaking her head. "Well, let's go back downstairs. Where do you want the Horcrux?"

"I'll take care of it," said Harry, taking it out of her hands. "Meet you downstairs in a moment."

So Hermione left, books in one arm, cauldron in the other.

Harry looked down at the locket. The prospect of going after the remaining Horcruxes had excited him a while ago, but now it felt more like a job than ever, and now he was in more danger than he was before as he came closer to having to go after Voldemort and kill him. Ron and Hermione were going to help him, but he still felt very vulnerable. A bunch of teenagers trying to destroy one of the strongest Dark lord of time seemed very difficult. It was more than it seemed, sadly enough.

Harry stared down at broken locket for a few more seconds, set it down, and then proceeded out the door.

When he came downstairs to the kitchen, he saw Ron, still looking slightly green, with Hermione, and Mr. Weasley.

"Ah, there you are, Harry," said Mr. Weasley, clapping his hands together. "Now we're ready to go. Meet you outside - there's a car waiting."

"Mr. Weasley, if I can already Apparate, why do I still have to take the test?" Harry asked.

"You need to be licensed and pass the test," Mr. Weasley explained from the doorway. "Well, come out when you're ready!"

"You two should go now," Hermione advised as Mr. Weasley left.

"Wait - " said Ron abruptly, looking frantic. "What if I don't pass this test? Then what?"

"I'm sure you'll be fine, Ron," said Hermione, giving him a kiss. "Good-luck, you two!"

But as they left, Harry glanced back at Hermione, who had wiped her mouth with her fingers, and stared at them, looking disgusted.

So Harry and Ron got in the car with Mr. Weasley, where an Auror was driving.

About a half-hour later, Harry and Ron were standing by Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions with some other teenagers Harry did not know, though he recognized Ernie Macmillan, a Hufflepuff in the same year as Harry.

A little, frail looking man stood before them, explaining the three D's.

"And now," said old Twycross, "I would like you to Apparate over to the front of Eyelop's Owl Emporium. Remember: Destination, determination, deliberation!"

He looked around at them, and then said, "One, two, three!"

Harry felt that this would be very easy, because of his success with other times he had Apparated; he just hoped Ron would pass. Harry faced the uncomfortable feeling of Apparition, and landed in front of the door to Eyelop's Owl Emporium.

Looking around, he saw Ron right next to him, a broad grin on his face.

"Is my eyebrow still here?"

"Yep," said Harry happily, checking Ron's eyebrows. Ron felt his eyebrows just in case.

"Well done!" said Twycross to all those who had successfully Apparated in front of Eyelop's. He bustled over to them and beamed. "Now, if you will, please go over to the Aurors, and they will present you your licenses."

Ron simply beamed the whole time it took him to receive his license.

When they arrived back at Number 12, Grimmauld Place, Ron leaned over to Harry before they got out of the car.

"Don't say anything to Hermione about me, okay?"

"Got it," Harry replied.

Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, and Ginny were all in the kitchen when they came inside. Hermione walked out of the kitchen.

"How did you do?" she asked anxiously, looking at Ron expression, because it looked placid.

"I passed," said Harry.

"Oh, good!" she said happily. "And what about you, Ron?"

Ron's expression turned grim. Harry couldn't help smiling.

Oh, Ron, you didn't - ?" said Hermione sadly.

Ron's expression remained the same.

"I'm sorry," said Hermione, hugging him.

Over Hermione's shoulder, Ron winked at Harry.

"Why are you sorry?" Ron asked her, looking smug.

"Well, you didn't - " Hermione started to say, but then she drew away, seeing Ron's expression. "Wait a minute - "

"I passed!" he said.

"You tricked me!" Hermione said scornfully.

"Ah, the power of mock misery," Ron said reminiscently, shaking his head happily.

Hermione turned pink.


	11. Chapter 11

"Now that we've destroyed one Horcrux, how are we gonna find the others?" Ron asked on one late evening a few days later. He pulled his feet up into a sitting position on his bed.

"Eh…." Harry mumbled, who was laying down on his bed.

"Well, I think I know a few places where they might be," said Hermione briskly, who was sitting in a pouf on the floor between Harry and Ron's bed, a book perched upon her crisscrossed legs, _Hogwarts, A History_.

"You do?" said Harry anxiously.

"Yes - but they're just ideas…." Hermione confessed bluntly.

"Go on," Ron prompted.

"Don't you remember how Voldemort hid one of his Horcruxes in a place where he had spent some of his time in his childhood? I'm guessing other places that Voldemort's been are where his other Horcruxes lie."

"Like the orphanage?" Ron guessed excitedly.

"Mhm," mused Hermione, flipping through the pages in her book.

"Maybe the Riddle house!" Harry also guessed.

"You name it," Hermione said. "Those are places we can check."

"Let's see," Ron said, holding up his fingers. "If the snake is a Horcrux, we know she's with Vol - thingy," he put up a finger. "and then there's three places the Horcruxes might be: Orphanage, Riddle house, and maybe Riddle's graveyard…."

"I do _not _want to go back there," said Harry shortly.

"It may be where the Horcrux is, Harry!" said Hermione with the slightest air of impatience.

"Fine, fine…." Harry said. "I think I know how to get there, fortunately."

"How?" Ron asked.

"Triwizard Cup," Harry answered simply.

"But that means - " said Hermione slowly.

" - we'd have to go back to Hogwarts to get it," Ron finished.

Harry thought for a moment.

"We'll save that Horcrux for last, if you don't mind."

"Fine," Hermione said. "But in the meantime, we may want to research where Voldemort's orphanage was located; that will be our first step."

"Okey-doke," said Ron, falling back onto his bed. "How about tomorrow we find out where the orphanage is, and maybe find a train or something to get us there."

"But we can Apparate," Hermione reminded him.

"Yeah, but you don't know what it looks like, now do you?"

"Oh, right…." Hermione said, shutting her book. "Well, good-night."

And with that, Hermione strode out the door.

"Hey, Harry, in two days it's your birthday," said Ron abruptly, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," said Harry. "Wait, don't tell me you forgot!"

"Don't worry, I've got a present for you." Ron said, and turned off the lamp on his bedside table, sending the room into darkness.

"Ah, there you two are!"

Harry and Ron stepped into the kitchen in the morning, expecting to see Hermione, but instead saw Mrs. Weasley, bustling up to them.

"Don't think I don't know what you three are up to," she said crossly. "I know - "

"About Horcruxes?" Ron cut in.

Harry could've kicked him. What if that wasn't what Mrs. Weasley was talking about?

"Yes!" Mrs. Weasley said stiffly. "We've seen more life than you two have, and already knew about Horcruxes - "

"Thanks, Mum, but we don't need help," said Ron simply.

"_Help?_" repeated Mrs. Weasley, wide-eyed. "What do you mean, 'help'? Ron - you're not - ?"

"Only a few to go," Ron said placidly.

"WHAT?" screamed Mrs. Weasley, her voice echoing throughout the house. "YOU LOT ARE GOING AROUND DESTROYING YOU-KNOW-WHO'S _HORCRUXES_?"

"Keep it down, Mum!" said Ron frantically, for Mrs. Black's portrait bloodcurdling scream was filling the house.

Hermione poked her head through the doorway, along with Ginny and Mr. Weasley, who had just arrived in the kitchen.

"What's this?" said Mr. Weasley, striding into the room and up to his wife. "What about Horcruxes?"

"Yes!" said Mrs. Weasley angrily, now looking back and forth between Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"They're so young - they can't - _why_ would you be doing this?"

"Eh…prophecy," said Ron. "Now that we've got Slytherin's locket - "

"YOU'VE ALREADY DESTROYED ONE!?" Mrs. Weasley yelled, yet again. "RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY - "

"Mum!" Ron said, now impatient. "Keep your hair on - we know what we're doing here, okay?"

"But you're only _children_!" Mrs. Weasley said tearful whine. "You could get hurt - "

"Hermione and I are adults now, and couldn't we _all_ get hurt, even walking down the street? There's Death Eater's everywhere trying to do us in."

"Oh - but, _Ron _- you're just - " Mrs. Weasley choked, terrified at the thought of her child and two other people she cared about going after Horcruxes. "You're just - my little boy, all grown up now and risking your neck out there - "

Ron turned a bright pink as his mother started to cry.

"I need a moment," Mrs. Weasley said through a gasp, and ran out the door. Mr. Weasley followed anxiously.

There was a pause between Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, along with Mrs. Black's screams. Her screams were finally muffled by the curtains around her portrait and then her voice died. Then -

"So…" said Ginny conversationally, "what are Horcruxes?"

"How did this happen?" said Hermione, rounding on Ron. "What did you do, Ronald?"

"Always jump to conclusions, do you?" Ron said stiffly. "For your information, _I_ didn't do anything."

"Well, then how'd she find out?"

"Mum has her sources," said Ron with a shrug.

Hermione huffed angrily.

"Fine. Well, it might interest you to know that last night I was doing some research in a book covering our area of Britain, and I think I found - " She glanced at Ginny, who had an eyebrow raised and muttered, "Voldemort's orphanage."

Harry and Ron nodded, sat down at the table, and helped themselves to the breakfast in front of them. Ginny followed suit, looking extremely put out.

They hadn't been eating for a minute when there was a knock on the door.

Mrs. Weasley was seen through the doorway, rushing through the hallway to answer the door. Harry bent his neck to get a better view of who was there through the open door.

It was none other than Tonks, though hardly recognizable: her hair was long, layered gray. Her hair seemed to match her expression: grim. As she spoke to Mrs. Weasley, Harry could only hear tidbits of her hollow-sounding voice.

"…hurt…trying to recover…not…worry about…"

_So someone was hurt, but they will be okay? _Harry thought quizzically. He glanced over at Ron, who had also abandoned his breakfast and was trying to listen. He wasn't the onlyone, though, for Hermione and Ginny were also looking over at Tonks.

"Oh, dear," Mrs. Weasley's voice said sadly. "Do you want to stay here for the time being? We have extra rooms…"

"Thank you, Molly," said Tonks. "That'd be nice."

"Well, come in, we're just having breakfast," Mrs. Weasley prompted.

Mrs. Weasley came back into the kitchen, conjured another chair, plate, and silverware with her wand, and Tonks followed.

But after seeing the foursome through the kitchen door, Tonks scrunched up her face, and in a moment, her hair was short, curly, and a vivid neon green. Once arriving in the kitchen, she had a weary smile.

"Wotcher," she said.

"Hi Tonks," their voices chimed in unison.

"Nice hair," Ginny said, "better than that look you just had."

"Oh, you saw that?" Tonks let out a weak laugh. "Yeah, I prefer this one." She twirled a curl in her finger.

"So, where's Lupin?" Harry asked.

"Oh - " Tonks said, and her hair seemed to wilt. "Erm - "

"You're done eating? Good," said Mrs. Weasley abruptly and anxiously. "Well, off you go!"

And she practically pushed them all out the door. This left Harry wondering if Mrs. Weasley had even looked at their plates, because neither of them had hardly touched their food.


	12. Chapter 12

"It's time for one of our girl-to-girl talks, Hermione," Ginny chimed.

Hermione reluctantly looked up from her book as she sat on her bed that night, peering at Ginny, who was sitting on her bed in a swaying crisscross form.

"What?"

"Well, discuss things, you know," said Ginny, tipping over onto her bed, now in a laying position. "It's hard to talk to people like Ron about your feelings, and don't even suggest Harry."

"Ah…yes," said Hermione, comprehension dawning on her. "Why haven't we been doing this before?"

"Because every night you fall asleep with a book on your face," Ginny said. "Basically all you do is read at night."

"It's such a guilty pleasure," said Hermione significantly.

"Like snogging my brother," Ginny sniggered.

"Excuse _me_? He's the only one _I've_ ever snogged," Hermione snapped.

"Ah yes," said Ginny reminiscently, rolling over so she was upside down with her head hanging off the bed and staring at Hermione. "Michael and Dean…though not exactly up to my standards."

"Do I _want_ to know?"

"Probably. You see, you've got to not be a sore loser, prat, git, and I'm you're princess."

"Does that mean I have to chuck Ron?"

"Poor Hermione, the jester…."

Hermione threw her pillow and Ginny's pink face.

"Oh yeah? Well, what about _your _prince?" Hermione mocked.

"Not funny, _Hermy_," said Ginny slyly.

"Arghh…don't call me Hermy," grumbled Hermione.

"Ron calls you Hermy," Ginny pointed out.

"Don't be thick - that's because it's _Ron_,"

"Is that your pet name?" Ginny inquired with another snigger.

"Eww…Ginny stop it," Hermione said testily.

"Are you ever going to marry him?"

"Why are you asking me this?"

"Because I have a right to know,"

"You do not,"

"Do to. I might be your sister-in-law."

"Then Harry will be my brother-in-law, right?"

"I don't know if that's exactly right. Work on your relative terms."

"Are _you_ going to marry him?"

Ginny pondered the thought for a moment, then sat up because all the blood was rushing to her head.

"I will give you an answer, unlike you."

"Oh, really?"

"If Harry ever asked him to marry him, I think I would. When this whole thing is over first, of course."

"Hmm," Hermione mumbled, laying down and returned to her book.

"I mean, I still like him," Ginny continued, vaguely aware that Hermione was absorbed in her book. "But, you know, it's for his own good. _Our_ own good, I guess. But I think we're fighting more of a losing battle here, because Voldemort manipulates people Harry isn't even close to. Like me when I was eleven, and that was when he was best friends with you and Ron, and I haven't seen you two being used."

The silence in which Hermione did not speak registered to Ginny that she was not listening.

"Uh…Hermione?" Ginny said, inclining her head.

But when the only sound Hermione made was a snore, Ginny sighed as she gave the book on Hermione's face one last look, and turned off the lamp.

"'Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear - ' Wait, do I consider you 'dear'?"

Harry awoke on his birthday to the sound of Ron's singing.

"It's okay, you don't have to finish the song," Harry grumbled, rubbing his eyes with one hand and groping around the bedside table for his glasses with the other.

"Aww…just when I thought I had that career in the bag," said Ron jokingly.

Harry and Ron dressed as usual and went down to the kitchen, but when they arrived, there was a great amount of "Happy Birthday" chants provided by everyone, even the Weasley twins, Mad-Eye Moody, and Tonks. Ron, however, seemed more interested in examining Harry's vanilla birthday cake breakfast.

"Happy birthday, Harry," said Hermione, presenting Harry with a parcel.

Harry got a bag of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum from Hermione, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans from Ron, a Foe-Glass from Moody, the latest copy of _Quidditch Through the Ages_ from Tonks, and a box of some of Fred and George's joke shop products, and a sack of Dungbombs from Ginny.

After eating their way through Harry's birthday cake, (Ron having two pieces, and Ginny accused him of being a pig, and Hermione shaking her head sadly) the adults informed them that they needed to go inspect a room a few stories above them.

"Boggarts are loving the house now that no one's been in it for a while," Tonks said, who's hair was a long, crimped lavender.

"It shouldn't take too long if it's the only thing up there," Moody growled. "But we doubt that."

As the adults trooped upstairs, Hermione watched them through the open door. It was only until they were all the way upstairs when she said, "I wonder where Lupin is?"

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "Tonks seemed ill just talking about him."

"Do you think _he_'_s_ the ill one?" Ginny asked.

"We haven't seen him either," said George.

"Maybe he's hurt!" Hermione said fearfully. "You know, doing what he's doing, he could - "

"Either that, or he's turned to the Dark side," Ron said jokingly.

"It's not funny, Ron!" Hermione snapped. "They don't _ever _want us knowing _anything_, it's so annoying! What do they think we'll do, run away and try to find him?"

"I think so," Harry said, who had been absorbed in his own thoughts about this matter until now.

"_Still _- " Hermione persisted.

"Let's just forget about it," Ron interjected. "He's probably fine."

Hermione huffed slightly, and her expression seemed to show that she had disappeared into her thoughts.

A few minutes later, after everyone was done eating, Hermione quietly confided to Harry and Ron that she was going to do more Horcrux research if she could.

"Enjoy yourself," Ron said.

"I will," Hermione said in a dignified manner.


	13. Chapter 13

"I've done it!" Hermione cheered as she ran into Harry and Ron's bedroom early the next morning.

Harry woke up with a start. Wiping his eyes, he distinctly heard Ron grumble in his sleep, " - few more minutes…"

"Oh, Ron, wake up!" Hermione said sharply, striding over to his bed and shaking his shoulder.

"Mo…!" Ron grumbled once again. Harry figured he was trying to say, "No".

Hermione huffed, pulled her wand out of her pocket, twirled it, and nonverbally performed a spell that shot a thin ray of yellow light at Ron's shoulder.

"Ow!" he shouted, sitting up and rubbing his shoulder. "I'm up, okay?"

"Good," Hermione said briskly. "Because I've found the location of Voldemort's orphanage, and a way to get there."

"Really?" said Harry anxiously. "How?"

"Train," Hermione answered simply.

"And I supposed you also got tickets?" said Ron sarcastically.

"Actually, I've _ordered_ them," Hermione corrected.

"And their supposed to come to _this_ house?" Ron asked.

"Well, no," Hermione replied. "That wouldn't be a good idea, mostly because I've ordered them through Muggle post, so they're due at _my _house in about two days."

"And your parents will open the door, see the tickets, and tell them they've got the wrong house," said Ron irritably.

"No, because _we're_ going there," Hermione said sharply.

"Hold on - " said Harry with a trace of indignity. "Hermione, _we're_ not going anywhere."

"_You're_ going there," Ron said. "Not us."

"Fine!" said Hermione angrily. "I just thought you'd be interested in helping. I guess not."

And with that, Hermione strode out the door, slamming the door behind her.

"She expects us to go traipsing off to her house?" Ron said incredulously. "When she can do it herself? Is she getting…clingy or something?"

"Dunno," Harry said with a shrug. "I don't see why she's making such a big deal out of it, though."

"About the Horcruxes?"

"No, bringing us to her house. I mean, there's nothing wrong with that, I guess, but she could do it herself."

"True," Ron said. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going back to sleep."

"Why? To dream of happy Hermione's?" Harry joked.

But Ron did not answer.

Later that same day, ranging considerably around the time Harry and Ron preferred to wake up, Hermione did not bother them about the tickets. In fact, she hardly talked to them at all.

Finally, at lunch, Harry and Ron talked to Hermione about the tickets.

"Hermione, we've decided that we'll go to your house with you," Ron chimed, sitting down next to her.

Hermione studied his expression, as if checking for any signs of sarcasm. "Seriously?" she asked tentatively.

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "Why shouldn't we?"

"Because you didn't want to this morning," Hermione replied.

"Well, we've changed our minds," Ron said, leaning back in his chair after grabbing a roll from the tray in front of them. "Wouldn't want you wandering around all alone, now would we?"

"I know where I live, Ron," Hermione said candidly.

"It's not that," Harry spoke up. "It's the fact that it's not safe to walk around alone these days."

Ron glanced at Harry proudly, as if he did not even think of that, and said, "Uh, yeah - exactly!"

Hermione shrugged and took a bite of her sandwich. "Well, if that's the case, I'll see you bright and early tomorrow."

"But -" Ron started to protest. "The tickets won't be there tomorrow!"

"Pack your bags," Hermione said as she stood up, smiling coyly. "For a sleep-over."

As she walked away, it was clear Hermione was only "tormenting" them because of Ron's response earlier. And, quite frankly, it was working, as Ron had his mouth open.

"A…sleep-over?" Ron said incuriously to Harry. "Whadaya think she means?"

"She's not sleeping with you, that's for sure," Harry said grinning. "Or _is _she?"

Ron elbowed Harry in the side and resumed eating his roll. Though Hermione had not meant it in a "perverted" way, they were nonetheless anxious to meet her parents and what their response would be when they found out two teenage boys would be bunking in their house.


End file.
